JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The video attached to this story is from a previous, related report.
A new round of allegations regarding the failed sale of JEA prompted Jacksonville City Council President Terrence Freeman to reanimate the council’s Special Investigatory Committee on JEA matters.
That committee was formed in 2019 to examine the scandal-plagued effort to sell the city’s water and city utility, focusing primarily on JEA principals.
But this week, as two Republican mayoral candidates shredded each other over JEA in political ads, the question turned toward what lawmakers at the time did or did not do in regards to the sale effort.
The first ad, produced by a political committee for Republican mayoral candidate LeAnna Cumber, alleged her main Republican rival and Chamber of Commerce President Daniel Davis privately endorsed the privatization effort.
The second ad, produced by a political committee for Davis, accused Cumber of lying about her husband's role in the early bid process, after emails surfaced showing he was working with one of JEA's potential suitors.
As our news partners The Florida Times-Union reported Friday, Cumber didn't mention her husband's contacts in 2020, when the council's Special Investigatory Committee on JEA asked councilmembers to identify "any interactions" they or their immediate family members had "with people or entities connected in any way with the JEA process."
The news about Husein Cumber's involvement -- though apparently unpaid -- sparked calls from two of Cumber's council colleagues for an investigation. In a letter to Council President Terrance Freeman, Councilmember Nick Howland said the fact Cumber's husband was involved in the attempted sale concerned him. Howland said voters have a right to know why she failed to include the information in her disclosure to the Special Investigatory Committee.
"Having led several acquisitions and divestitures during my career, it concerns me that a Council Member's husband was advising a potential buyer while the Council Member herself was a seller," wrote Howland.
In a statement Wednesday, Freeman said he was reopening the investigative committee, “In response to multiple Council members’ requests.”
His full statement is below. This is a developing story.
“In response to multiple Council members’ requests, the Council will reopen the Special Investigatory Committee on JEA matters. The potential sale of the JEA through the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) process and the alleged attempt to profit off that sale by a certain JEA executive has embroiled our community in scandal for the last years. In an effort to ascertain the truth about the ITN process and to restore the public’s confidence in our city government, then Council‐ President Scott Wilson announced the Special Investigatory Committee on JEA Matters (SIC). On February 4, 2019, then‐President Wilson created the SIC and charged the members with restoring the public trust in JEA.
The SIC began work immediately and interviewed dozens of witnesses under oath and reviewed million of documents. Notably, for the first time in the history of consolidated Jacksonville, the SIC issued a series of subpoenas that were affirmed by the Council Rules Committee. Those subpoenas were issued to private individuals and to all the ITN bidders. One of those bidders, JEA Public Power Partners responded to the SIC subpoena and stated that it considered hiring the husband of Jacksonville City Council Member Leanna Cumber but did not due to an actual or perceived conflict of interest. Correspondingly, the SIC requested all sitting Council Members declare the contacts they had with JEA officials and any actual or perceived conflicts they might have related to the aborted sale of JEA. City Council Members made their disclosures in September 2020.
The SIC completed its work in December 2020 and issued a 138‐page report providing the Council’s fullest and best understanding as to what occurred during the ITN. The SIC and related committees proposed legislative fixes such that nothing akin to the scandal surrounding the ITN could ever happen in our community again. Following the release of the SIC’s official report, two JEA executives were indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud and conspiracy charges related to the failed sale of JEA.
On March 2, 2021, Council Member Leanna Cumber made her disclosures regarding the ITN stating: “I have no conflicts regarding JEA and ITN.”
Documents have come to light, including emails and text messages, that contradict responses given by JEA Public Power Partners and the disclosure provided by Council Member Cumber.
In order to ensure to the people of Jacksonville that they City government was not deceived by any bidders or elected officials during the investigation into the attempted sale of JEA, I hereby renew and recharge the Special Investigatory Committee on JEA Matters. The Committee’s power to subpoena related to its legislative purpose will also continue. The Committee is charged solely with the following:
1. Investigate whether the Committee was deceived or misled by Council Member Cumber or JEA Public Power Partners responding to subpoenas or making disclosures.
2. Ascertain whether Council Member Cumber attempted to use her official position to influence the ITN process for personal gain; and 3. Propose legislation to ensure that such deceptions, if any, do not impeded the work of any future investigatory committee.